Sunday Talk

Update [2005-3-12 21:34:48 by Armando]: From the diaries by Armando. Tomorrow's Sunday Talk will be moderated by DemfromCt, in a "one morning only" Comeback Appearance. Viva Connecticut. And yes he will be wearing a leather jumpsuit.

Update [2005-3-13 7:39:29 by DemFromCT]: You never know. Maybe one of the talking head panels will admit Bush's Soc Sec plan stinks, both financially and politically. Moved for ease of use.

ABC's "This Week" - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; former baseball player Jose Canseco; Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Rice; Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Joseph Biden, D-Del.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Rice; Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif.; Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I.

CNN's "Late Edition" - National security adviser Stephen Hadley; Sens. Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; Middle East analyst Adib Farha and Syrian Cabinet Minister Bouthaina Shaaban; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.

"Fox News Sunday" - Hadley; Mark Malloch Brown, chief of staff to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Let us know what's going on!

•  Hey. I posted something

  earlier.
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/12/15243/2325

  Add this:

  This Week roundtable: George "Shill" Will, Cokie "Crackpot Commentator" Roberts, and Sam "Hairpiece" Donaldson.

  FoxNews Sunday panel: Charles Krauthammer, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams

  The Chris Matthews Show: Panel: Katty Kay; David Gregory; Jennifer Senior; Jim Cramer

  by Newsie8200 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 12:17:43 PM PDT

  •  so did UL

    RIGHT HERE

    Either my browswer is messing up or dkos is acting up because i see everything in times new roman right now.

    March Madness dominates the tv all month.

    http://kydem.blogspot.com

    by dsolzman on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:05:38 PM PDT

  •  This is jamato's gig

    He's been doing this for a while.

    by Armando on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:08:58 PM PDT

    •  Ya

      your right, I deleted my diary.

      by UL on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:21:37 PM PDT

•  You're a Peach, Jamato; thanks!

  You're a Peach, too, Newsie :)

  by PhillyGal on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 12:19:38 PM PDT

  •  Thanks PhillyGal and everyone else!

    I appreciate it. :-)
    

    by Jamato on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 10:02:39 PM PDT

•  Joe Biden is back!!

  after being absent last week, I am so excited!!! Not. Hmm, MTP: A DINO and a RINO in the same room!

  by jj32 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 12:20:43 PM PDT

  •  I like

    I like Joe Biden. He has an aristocratic face, a sort of House of Lord Biden face. Kennedy on the other hand looks like rifraf

    by mongoosejuice2004 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:27:22 PM PDT

    •  But

      Kennedy gets it right on the issues IMO.

      by jj32 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:48:00 PM PDT

    •  Sir Biden was looking out for us

      when he voted in favor of the new Bankruptcy bill.

      Lets face it - we in the sharecropper class are not morally capable of dealing with things like extended credit without taking advantage. Therefore we need draconian tough law enforcement that gets rids us of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, to ensure we don't take advantage of the wonderful system Sir Biden and his aristocratic colleagues have nobly bestowed upon us.

      </snark>

      by assyrian64 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 02:26:23 AM PDT

•  give biden a show

  biden is on the sunday show`s so much he should get his own show. maybe john mccain and him could do a senate crossfire type show since hardly a week goes by when we don`t see either one of these guys.  

  by JOEL1954 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 02:06:41 PM PDT

  •  The Biden Show!

    Anything to keep him running for Pres in 2008!

    by Kivu on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 10:41:08 PM PDT

    •  Not the Biden Show!

      The Biden Bunch! Think of it, it's brilliant! Joe as Mike, McCain as Carol... now all we need is to figure out who plays Alice and the kids...

      by Field Marshall Stack on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:48:14 AM PDT

•  Horrible

  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

  I still cringe when I see those words together.

  by Carnacki on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 02:32:48 PM PDT

  •  yep

    You can thank tough talkin' Joe biden for that!

    by Kivu on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 10:46:05 PM PDT

    •  "Because I like you, Dr. Rice"

      Go shit in a hat, Biden.

      by swinginvoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:33:17 AM PDT

•  Scintillating

  Should be a real barnburner on Sunday morning.  Can't wait.

  by aoxomoxoa on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:08:44 PM PDT

•  leather jumpsuit??

  this is what you wear as pajamas?

  i tell ya, it's always the quiet ones who turn out to be the biggest freaky deakies.

  by JaneKnowles on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:10:23 PM PDT

  •  Indeed

    DemfromCt will surprise you.

    by Armando on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:17:11 PM PDT

    •  speaking of people

      who have the potential to attend the nyc meet-up, you're included on that list sir armando. so are we gonna see your pretty face there or what? kos represented for the west coast...is the east gonna be sans irregulars?

      by JaneKnowles on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:21:06 PM PDT

      •  I'll try n/t

        by Armando on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:30:03 PM PDT

        •  otherwise

          we will be forced to make up all sorts of scandalous rumors about you. strictly for entertainment value you understand.

          anyway, ta, i'm off the city to check out some of these joints!

          by JaneKnowles on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:32:54 PM PDT

    •  no one is more surprised than I

      but, hey, go with the flow...

      by DemFromCT on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:05:04 PM PDT

      •  Very, very interesting ... go with the flow indeed

        Words out you know, far and wide, and the leather-loving groupies are circling the wagons.

        by caliberal on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:17:26 PM PDT

      •  Leather jumpsuit

        I'm seeing you in a whole new light, Dem.  BTW, it's good to have you back. :-)

        by Unstable Isotope on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:27:17 AM PDT

        •  man, conditions are getting more stringent

          I didn't know Armando had established a dress code for Sundays...

          by DemFromCT on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 09:10:57 AM PDT

  •  Leather jumpsuit begs an audience

    I was going to sleep in tomorrow morning especially after looking at the lists but wouldn't miss the leather jumpsuit, not in a million.

    As Hotlips used to say, "I just love a good piece of leather" as she snapped her whip at Frank.

    by caliberal on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 06:22:08 PM PDT

•  sunday talkies

  I guess its time to shoo out the female house nig as H Bellafonte has called her. 3 out of 4 isn't too bad! I guess the preparation for invasion is starting to crank up. Now lets see how the Dems respond! That ought to be a joke.
                 [e-mail]

  by billjpa on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:03:02 PM PDT

•  I can't decide...

  Red leather or black?

  Well, as Elvis would say, thank you. Thank you vurrah much.

  by DemFromCT on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:03:54 PM PDT

  •  C'mon be a patriot

    Isn't chartreuse the official state color of Connecticut?  Since you're a true patriot of your state and all ... just sayin'.

    by caliberal on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:23:25 PM PDT

    •  Qui Transtulit Sustinet

      "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains," an apt motto for DemfromCT's Comeback Appearance.  And did you know that Connecticut was once known as the Land of Steady Habits?  

      As for the leather question, I vote for a hand-painted finish:  the State Tartan.  

      Sadly, The Homeland of Chartreuse is French.

      by musing graze on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 06:48:27 AM PDT

      •  terrific

        steady habits = incumbents, not because they're good, but because they're already there.

        by DemFromCT on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 06:53:43 AM PDT

        •  Mantis religiosa

          I tried to resist making a crack about your state insect, but there's only so much straight-line temptation I can take.
          

          The European "praying" mantis (family, Mantidae, order, Orthoptera) officially became the State Insect on October 1, 1977. The name "mantis", derived from the Greek, originally meant prophet or diviner, and, appropriately, described the mantids' distinctive habit of standing motionless on four hind legs, with the two highly specialized forelegs raised in an attitude of meditation.

          
          Apologies!

          by musing graze on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:10:58 AM PDT

•  Canseco, Rice, Lott, Annan....

  Corporate media is going to be all over the place tommorrow morning.

  by whag00 on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:25:44 PM PDT

•  I don't get Canseco

  Does ABC have the baseball contract? Or are they trying to discredit baseball to fuck with Fox's ratings. I know there will be government panels and hearings, but that's all show and everybody knows it.

  The main reason the government is up in arms is because they want all whistleblowers and tell-all authors to know that if their agent gets them a better price on the book advance for naming names, their ass'll get hauled up in front of Congress faster than [insert baseball metaphor here]. That way nobody'll get any bright ideas to write policial tell-alls naming names until everybody has time to arrange for their golden parachute packages to "return to private life."

  by mrblifil on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:44:38 PM PDT

  •  Canesec-o-rama

    The sad thing is the third guest Sachs is trying to eliminate global poverty. But let's talk baseball!

    I wish I had $250 million dollars so I could buy a shitty baseball franchise like the Brewers, challenge the anti-trust exemption of baseball which would certainly not hold up, and then I'd move from Milwaukee to Brooklyn and increase my franchise value by another $250 million overnight. Can anyone spot me $250 million? George H.W. Bush, are you out there? You set up Dim Son with a money losing deal, this one is a winner!

    by joejoejoe on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 09:53:10 PM PDT

    •  Well

      The sad thing is the third guest Sachs is trying to eliminate global poverty. But let's talk baseball!

      It might make more sense if they had George Will do the interview.  He does think of himself as all knowledgable on baseball.  But, I figure George S. will all George W. to weigh in during the round table.

      by Maggie Mae on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 10:19:34 PM PDT

      •  My Prediction

        G. Will's entire contribution: "tut-tut"

        by mrblifil on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 04:49:16 AM PDT

        •  You don't need G. Will's infinite baseball

          intelligence to figure this one out. Skinny players turn into Incredible Hulks=ROIDS. End of story, record books mean nothing, go watch a high school game instead.

          by swinginvoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:35:20 AM PDT

          •  High school games

            ...go watch a high school game instead.

            When do you think players start taking 'roids?

            by Field Marshall Stack on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 09:24:10 AM PDT

            •  Well, in general I'd say it's after high school.

              But I could be wrong.

              by swinginvoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 11:36:47 AM PDT

•  the ones to watch

  Nelson and Chafee can actually make news on the judiciary issues.

  by Adam B on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 07:50:46 PM PDT

  •  Sunday snooze fest

    I'm not a fan of either one, but given the choice, I'd take Chafee. At least he votes with the Democrats once in a while. If these two are the cream of the Sunday morning crop, I think I'll be sleeping in.

    by buddhistMonkey on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:16:47 PM PDT

    •  Just watched this

      Nelson still refused to be pinned down by Timmy about rejecting private accounts.  However, his description of what he will accept clearly precludes Bush style privatization.  Chafee is  more liberal than Nelson.  Don't know why he won't just change parties.  I think the significance of this choice of guests is that there was no real advocate of privatization within Social Security.  It is a sign that the MSM has turned on this issue.

      by MadRuth on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 06:59:34 AM PDT

  •  agreed re chafee and nelson

    this was a very good, informed segment by chafee and nelson.  fat fucking tim was his usual shill self for repugs.

    by bkny on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:09:45 AM PDT

•  There has to be...

  a plan in the works for Madame Rice to get so much face time.  However there is nobody actually spitting in the administration's eye at the moment, so it will be awfully hard to justify any additional belligerency.  

  by stumpy on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:02:46 PM PDT

•  Ahhhh, Gloat-a-thon!!!

  She is going to spread the Gospel of the righteousness of invasion as the vehicle of Democratization throughout the Middle East.

  by stumpy on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:07:07 PM PDT

•  Rice and 'Roids Sunday Tomorrow

  For those of you wondering, Davis and Waxman chair the committee that's having the hearing on steroids on St. Pat's Day that is supposed to have McGwire, Sosa, Canseco, et. al. testify. And with a breaking story about McGwire on the juice -- http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2011689 -- that story is gonna get some play this week.

  Now if we can only link Condi's ignorance of the 9/11 warnings to Barry Bonds ...

  by Edgewater Joe on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:08:54 PM PDT

  •  When i read "'Roids"

    I thought you meant hemorrhoids,

    by Glinda on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:22:59 PM PDT

•  High carb, high fat, low protein Sunday

  Plenty of Rice and that old fathead Kissinger. And you wonder why Americans have flabby minds.

  by Glinda on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:20:11 PM PDT

•  Friggin Biden

  When are they going to give that blowhard his own show?

  by Burton Halli on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:23:03 PM PDT

•  McGuire

  McGuire's going down:

  The man who once broke Roger Maris' single season home run record is under scrutiny on the topic of steroid use before it's even discussed with a House Government Reform Committee.

  Mark McGwire's name came up several times in a landmark FBI anabolic steroids investigation that led to 70 convictions in the early 1990s, the New York Daily News is reporting.

  The paper says that while evidence against McGwire was never collected and he was not a target in the investigation, two steroid dealers caught in the probe told the Daily News that another dealer provided McGwire and Jose Canseco, among others, with illegal anabolic steroids.

  by pontificator on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:26:32 PM PDT

•  Another Unremarkable Sunday

  Thanks for the post.  Every time I see that kind of line-up I am grateful that I gave up Sunday talk.  

  I miss it NOT.

  by freepress4all on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 08:46:02 PM PDT

•  Quick! Someone shove an apple into Biden's mouth!

  Or an old sock.  Something.

  I wish one of these Sunday morning hosts would ask him about his comb-over.  Or his hair transplants.  Or whatever that thing is on his head.

  Yeah, I know, he had cancer.  My apologies.

  But when will he just go away?

  Can't he stay off the Sunday shows for a week?

  Like a moth to the flame.  And he never (rarely) does his party any favors.

  by Bob Johnson on Sat Mar 12, 2005 at 10:08:14 PM PDT

•  CNN's Late Edition

  As I looked at what was being shown on CNN for the Sunday offering(no pun intended), I cringed in horror.  It is like a nightmare buffet of bad Sunday morning pundits!!!!  Trent Lott AND Henry Kissinger on the same freaking program!?!?!

  by pilotweed on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 02:40:43 AM PDT

  •  Its fitting

    that they are on together, they both should be in jail, this must be the jailbird program.
    As bad as Lott is, he's an amateur compared to Henry the horrible.
    PEACE!

    by PC on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 04:46:33 AM PDT

•  BIDEN

  GEEESSSSSH!
  PEACE!

  by PC on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 04:35:53 AM PDT

•  I just whipped up a cup of coffee

  mmmm... senseo...

  I checked out the Washington Post and G.Will was telling me about Lindsey Graham's Good Idea. THis passage struck me:

  www.washingtonpost.com :
  

   In 1994, when a 39-year-old state legislator was asked in Aiken, S.C., how he was enticing voters to make him the first Republican elected to Congress from that district since Reconstruction, he said: "I'm one less vote for an agenda that makes you want to throw up." Lindsey Graham won, and in 2002, advocating voluntary personal retirement accounts funded by a portion of individuals' Social Security taxes, he won a Senate seat. Now he has an idea that makes some Republicans throw up: Raise the current $90,000 limit on income subject to Social Security taxes.

  Republicans who throw up should grow up. Intelligent people can differ about whether Graham's suggestion is economically unwise or politically imprudent. However, it hardly blurs the distinction between conservatism and Bolshevism.

  The Social Security tax rate has been increased 20 times in 70 years, and the cap on income subject to the tax is indexed to average wages and adjusted annually. It was $4,200 when Graham was born in 1955, $60,600 when he was elected to Congress and $84,900 in 2002. It is projected to rise to $100,200 in 2008 and $121,800 in 2013.

  Suppose it were immediately raised to $162,000 -- a senator's salary -- but not indexed. That would be, effectively, a temporary tax increase. The increased revenue -- $525 billion over 10 years -- would more than cut in half the borrowing required to cover the transition costs during the phase-in of personal accounts.

  I thought to myself: Do I really want to watch the Suday Talk shows today? Can I stand watching my representatives get shellacked, yet again? How bad is it going to be this week?

  What the hell are we going to do about this folks?

  I would rather see most of you in those seats fielding those questions. It's all gotcha anyway, they really aren't allowed to mention policy on these shows. I think most Kossacks would kick ass on MTP.

  Anyway, just wanted to share my feelings of despair, and share my thoughts on wishing it were common Kossacks in those chairs fielding those questions.

  by k9disc on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 05:17:34 AM PDT

  •  see following post

    hold tghe media accountable for fact checking. start with printed journalists... Meet the Tim and the good hair people on TV aren't journalists, anyway.

    by DemFromCT on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 05:23:54 AM PDT

•  Condi "won't" run in 2008

  from This Week. At least she's a realist.

  by signojr on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 06:16:51 AM PDT

  •  Now <b>that's</b> a

    mushroom cloud I can love!

    by swinginvoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:39:15 AM PDT

  •  Hooray!

    I heard she left the door open a crack, though.

    by Unstable Isotope on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:29:31 AM PDT

•  Condi's a Joke!

  MTP's Russert questions Condi on Bolton appointment.  Quotes him with saying the security council should only have one member instead of the 5 permanent members & that member should be the USA.  He shows video of Bolton saying the UN could lose the top 10 floors of the building & it wouldn't matter.  Russert asks Condi why he is a good choice & she says... BECAUSE HE'S A VERY GOOD DIPLOMAT!  That was the funniest thing I've heard her say, I think.  Yeah, that was really diplomatic of him to say, Condi!

  by goldilocks on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:38:43 AM PDT

  •  Of course Condi's a joke!

    on FTN she tells Schieffer that Syria has to leave Lebanon because then we can see what happens afterwards (with regards to their politics and elections).

    Well then, how come the U.S. didn't leave Iraq BEFORE their "election"? would have been the obvious follow-up, if Schieffer and Doyle McManus---of the LA Times---were good journalist, which...they're not.

    And, for that matter, how come Israel doesn't have to leave Palestine and the Golan Heights?

    Obvious follow-ups you should learn to ask in Journalism 101.

    Condi only gets away with this drivel because the forums she enters treat her with kid gloves and/or the questioners have already adopted her corporate friendly views.

    by formernadervoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:54:18 AM PDT

    •  Oh Geez..

      I thought Schaeffer was going to get up from the table and walk over and give her a big fat kiss!  The whole half hour was like one big love fest.  I won't watch EVER AGAIN.

      by jhwygirl on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:25:55 AM PDT

  •  Russert a paper tiger

    Yeah,
    I just saw Russert's "interview"---more like promotional piece---with Condi.
    Wow, Russert kept hammering away at the Condi in 2008 myth floating by the right (they give lots of "story" ideas to the corporate "repeaters" who work for the SCLM).   He just wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
    Imagine if he had used 1/10 of the effort on grilling the Bush team about weapons of mass destruction?
    

    by formernadervoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:13:15 AM PDT

•  Chafee

  What a goof ball. He said explicitly that he disagrees with his party on Social Security, the envoronment, abortion, the war in Iraq, and the tax cuts. He follwed that with "but I'm a proud Republican!" :D

  by Idioteque on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:49:16 AM PDT

  •  Makes sense

    Lincoln Chafee is the future of the GOP.
    One day, when we get through the upcoming crises, the party will move left.  BOTH parties will move left.  This isn't wishful thinking.  Developed nations that aren't superpowers are more socialist.  And Americans love their stuff TOO MUCH to tolerate becoming a real third world nation.

    by Ptolemy on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:06:37 AM PDT

    •  Yup

      and in a sense he is the past of the party too. The rational part, that isnt beholden to a radical ideology.

      by jj32 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:33:18 AM PDT

•  Biden was his usual irrelevant self

  Why does this guy continue to "assume" importance?
  His comments were ridiculous on FTN.

  He says we're moving in the right direction in the Middle East.   So much for the opposition party in Congress.

  Biden's in the wrong party when it comes to foreign policy, and war policy, general.

  Bush lied to get us into the attack on the Iraqi people and nothing else that results from the fiasco/quagmire in Iraq can detract from that.   Not for Biden, though.
  For him the ends justify the means.   Even when he ignores the ends, as he, and the rest of the mainstream does on a daily basis.

  It is sometimes very tempting to hear/see the mainstream media talk about foreign events.   What, they had elections, one wonders?   Gee, maybe Bush was right.   NO!   You have to continually keep reminding yourself the mainstream media does not report the truth about what is really going on.   Democracy is not really breaking out in the Middle East.  How could it?   Look at the instigators in the White House.   Are those folks in favor of democracy?
  On what basis could one conclude that?
  They haven't fooled Biden either.   He was never that good on the issues/facts/policy and he continues to be a road block to an effective opposition to Bush's plans for the planet.  

  by formernadervoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:01:46 AM PDT

  •  Biden

    I'm going to say this 800000 times before 2008:
    Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman and that whole crazy kat krew are the #1 reason that everyone on Kos should mobilize within the Democratic party.
    With Ho-Ho at the top, we have a real chance of keeping any of these neolib-sharecroppersociety morons away from the Prez nomination in 2008.

    We may end up with someone fairly centrist, but a centrist Democrat who fights for recognizably Democratic ideals.  NOT a DINO.
    They might be a little rightward on guns or even on choice (I said a little, not a lot) ... but if we work hard, we can flush the whole "Joe-Joe" team down the toilet.

    by Ptolemy on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:10:14 AM PDT

    •  Not trying to push

      a candidate, but I see Mark Warner in that mold. He is pro-choice, a little more conservative on issues like gun rights and the death penalty, but he really is a partisan Democrat. His "Why I am a Dem" speech is great and he had the stones to campaign for Kerry. ALthough I agree that we should mobilize, I really see Lieberman and Biden as having no shot in hell in 08.

      by jj32 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:39:04 AM PDT

•  Cokie the Jokie

  Wow, she actually parroted Bush's asinine line that the "racist" notion that "some people don't think Arabs are capable of Democracy" has been "put to rest."

  First of all, she should read Zakaria's book, because his argument is a bit more sophisticated than that.  Second, how the hell does a 500,000-person demonstration against the US, and in support of a major terrorist organization, disprove even the Bush/Roberts straw man?    

  by cardinal on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:07:16 AM PDT

•  Individual Investment Accounts

  What is the difference between IIA and IRA?  IRAs are voluntary now.  Chaffee mentioned Roth IRAs. I have not heard that mentioned before by other politicians.

  by Hiram615 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:12:46 AM PDT

•  Rep. Tom Davis defends national interest on MTP

  Wow, Davis so tough!  
  He threatens contempt of Congress against those who won't testify in front of Congress about the steroid in baseball scandal (should we be surprised, btw, that players are "cheating"; after all, we live in THE cheating culture).

  There's a cheat in White House and many more in the rest of the administration.   They cheat and lied on the Iraq attack.   And a whole lot more.

  There's a lot of cheating going on in corporate America.   Let's see Mr. Davis go after that with subpoenas.   Then I'll feel just a little bit safer.

  But, no, Davis is threatening these players.   Not the real power centers in this country.  

  And, I'm not excusing steroid abuse.   That's an abuse of their body and should not be excused or accepted.   They were, however, only taking competition to its logical end.   (I like this quote from Alfie Kohn: Competition is to character as sugar is to teeth.)

  by formernadervoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:20:16 AM PDT

  •  Davis is my representative...

    And he's a hack...

    The only thing he's really good on is trying to get D.C. the vote, but even then he's kind of a hack.

    by doctormatt06 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 10:32:47 AM PDT

    •  A hack indeed

      Yes but he does try to get pay parity for civil service with the military. And for us civilians who have the opportunity to get our asses shot off too, we appreciate that.

      by victor lazlo on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 01:01:59 PM PDT

•  Chafee/Nelson sound pretty good on SS

  re Social Security issues on MTP

  Despite stupid questioning by Russert (typical of him) Chafee and Nelson warned about the risk of privatization.  
  They worried about all the borrowing necessary for privatization.
  They both suggested raising the SS tax cap on income with Chafee even giving Tiger Woods as an example of someone who pay more into the fund.
  Chafee even brought up George McGovern's 1970s proposal to include general revenue funding of the program (like is done in Europe).
  Both suggested solvency must be addressed before privatization.
  Chafee pointed out that Medicare is the real big problem.
  Missing from the whole debate, as it always is, is the fact that Social Security insolvency is based on very weak economic growth projections for the long term.  If growth is just what it has been for the last 100 years---averaging 3% per year, there NEVER IS A SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDING CRISIS.

  Interesting note:  Chafee wrote in Bush,  Sr. for his 2004 presidential vote, citing the issues of the environment, Roe v. Wade and the war in Iraq.   Why the heck would you vote for Bush, Sr., given those concerns?   What is up with that?

  by formernadervoter on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 08:47:02 AM PDT

  •  they sounded so good

    Armando did a separate post...

    by DemFromCT on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 10:07:03 AM PDT

•  Capitoline Wolf

  Blitzer is way excited about the Pope's Mercedes mini-van.  Gosh, the camera inside shows "dramatic photos" of the back of the Pontiff's noggin!  

  by musing graze on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 09:33:05 AM PDT

  •  Wouldn't have missed that

    for the world, would you? That drive from the hospital to the Vatican! Yes, and the Pope's head! Too bad it was such a short segment. But it certainly animated Woofie while it lasted.

    by jane 2000 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 03:45:18 PM PDT

•  chafee should switch

  the guy looks like a goof ball, he was sounding
  more democratic than most democrats and wouldn`t even vote for his own president and then he sits there and says what a proud republican he is. what a goof, he know`s he has zero chance  of going back to the senate as a republican, why not swich.if he waits till the last second it won`t help him.we need more democrats like chafee even if he is a republican.

  by JOEL1954 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 12:23:27 PM PDT

  •  Chafee won't switch . . .

    He has a strong family lineage within the old-line Republican party.  His write-in vote for Bush Sr. indicates his loyalty to the old GOP, not the contemporary GOP.  (Chafee's father was an old friend and political ally of Bush Sr., I should add.)  He's a Republican by heritage, if not in spirit.

    Plus, I have a feeling that Chafee will hang onto his senate seat; at this time, it seems as if his Democratic opponent is a pro-life Dem.  Now, I'm not from Rhode Island, but my general impression of that state's voting patterns is thus:  voters will more likely re-elect a pro-choice incumbent than a pro-life challenger.  The fact that the pro-choice candidate is a Republican won't matter to the voting public.  And, in a way, that's admirable; whenever people are willing to vote on issues, rather than partisanship, it's a step in the right direction.

    by arlaur on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 02:07:52 PM PDT

    •  Video of MTP and Dodd up

      Crooksandliars
      has the video up of Nelson and Chafee. I also thought that Dodd kicked Orin Hatch's butt about Social Security on Blitzer
      Dodd:...It's dead on arrival...It's not just democrats that you mentioned, there's a lot of republicans who will never vote for this, and that's why this president hasn't even put it on paper yet, will all due respect to a democratic proposal, where's the presidents?

      If you just reduced the president's permanency of the tax cuts from over 11 trillion dollars to 9 trillion over the next 75 years, pick up 2.2 trillion dollars, you've solved the solvency problem..

      by Jamato on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 04:37:59 PM PDT

    •  Chafee

      Chafee would have to run in the Democratic primary. He would not be guaranteed the seat if he changed parties.

      Rhode Island is a Catholic state so a pro-life candidate would do fine.  Abortion rights do not help nor hurt candidates.  The voters care about other issues.

      We need Democrats who can win.  I spent four years supporting pro-choice candidates, but now with Bush's wars and desire to destroy social security, there are more important issues facing this country.  If Democrats ran the Senate, there would not be votes on abortion related issues.

      by ann stone on Sun Mar 13, 2005 at 07:57:48 PM PDT